1618 A good breakfast in Croydon

Thursday morning with seven hours between waking up and leaving Victoria Station to commence the long journey home. I am torn between the options available. I resist the temptation to enjoy the unlimited breakfast knowing I will consume a vast quantity of the English hot cooked bacon eggs, sausages mushrooms, tomatoes plus cereals, fruit juice, croissants, toast bread and coffees. At £7.50 the cost is exceptional because the three sausages and mash hot meal with coffee is the same, and with planning some croissant Danish and fruit could be taken away for the journey.

However with fresh revolve I do not want to be counter productive and eat too much and a large breakfast will just generate more appetite later. So I said no and reminded myself that from now on I would be required to take similar decisions on a daily basis.

Yesterday I was reasonable good only having a small plate of sandwiches plus a coffee at the reception held after the humanist cremation service. It was exceptionally well done and the tragedy provided the opportunity to meet up with members of the extended family including a teenage childhood friend who I had not seen for 55 years. In late afternoon I had the three Suffolk sausages and mash with onion gravy at the O’Grady pub restaurant with still water and ice (free) followed by a coffee, and later still a packet of crisps and a kit kat chocolate bar both of which I should have said no to.

Back in my room I watched the BBC two hour Inauguration programme and the second of the BBC 2 programmes on the British view of the financial crunch. This did not add to my overall knowledge but filled in the details of the development of Hedge fund trading which is primarily calculating marginal gains based on a complex mathematical formula, buy and selling the same share or stock thus eliminating the risk of significant losses and significant gains unless through gearing vast amounts of money are borrowed to multiply the marginal gains, and where when the formula was used to stand the concept on its head and make astronomic gains without understanding that the system could rebound with the consequence of astronomic losses. This result in AIT having to be bailed out with every USA citizen carrying a $500 dollar state debt.

The programme explained how the banks managed to become involved with every loss making aspect of what had promised to make them unlimited riches personally and for all their share holders. The anger is profound, made worse by the understanding that if the system is not to collapse with even worse results it must be fixed by the very people who caused the problem. Father it is difficult to forgive then what they do.

I tried to watch the second part of Trial and Retribution but only managed the first quarter so I changed the batteries in the radio and it works so will see what happens on the coach on the way back. I will continue writing thee notes until 10.30 and then make my way to Victoria station and back to the restaurant centre for a hot cooked lunch, buying sandwiches for long journey back.

On returning home I could not go early to bed and watched the remainder of trial and retribution which was a most unsatisfactory experience although I imagine true to life. A young wealthy girl with a well intentioned but controlling mother has been seduced by a good for nothing play boy who uses the honeymoon as the opportunity to engage in drug trading with funds from his wife. The drugs are smuggled back into the UK and the playboy and his friend decide to try and sell for themselves rather than use existing distributors at the prearranged price. Cornered the girl pretends that they have run out of medication which the playboy needs and calls an ambulance, but this does not stop the organised drug dealers from stopping the ambulance which results in the accidental death of the paramedic and driver and execution of the husband. The friend then accidentally dies with disassociates s they the attempt to covert the drugs which have been hidden i sacking coverage of the imported goods. The girl desperate in grief and fear arranges a meeting with the chief distributor who she successfully run down in her car

The film ends unconvincingly with apparent acceptance that the girl did not know about the drug deal until returning from the Honeymoon and that she in effect caused he death of the husband by withholding the medication in order to save her own skin, and he was already dead when the gunmen executed him so at best the gang master would be charged with conspiracy to cause murder than actual murder. There is a lack of justice about the outcome of all this, including the behaviour of the female detective who endangered the life of a paid informant by ignoring the rules and should have lost her job as a consequence. Wasted time.
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I am filled with resolve again about get fitter and losing weight as well as getting my affairs in such order that should something happen suddenly it will be a simple matter for executors to sort everything out. Easier said than done of course.

The news is that President Obama has spoken to four Middle East leaders which could prove significant as well preparing to sign Executive Orders on the closure of Guantanamo and issued an order about Integrity in government which will ban gifts from lobbyists as well as other measures. My mood rapidly changed form mixed up and uncertain to positive with a manageable agenda.

It was then time to make my way back to the O’Grady pub for a hot lunch but a few yards from the Travel Lodge there was a Greggs bakery and on going to get something for the journey I changed my mind and purchased two small made up baguettes, one with prawns and the other with spiced chicken and two Danish type pastries one with apple and the other cinnamon. A different approach to day was settled, It was time for breakfast and I had a bacon roll and tea at the platform waiting room. I had placed my bags by a vacant seat on one of settees but between getting my order and returning a young woman had come in a taken the seat ignoring the baggage and the other occupant had failed to advise that it was taken, obviously delighted to have a young woman sitting by him instead of an old fat man. Understandable but meant I had to place by breakfast down elsewhere and move my bags and then just as I had done that a train arrived and the young woman departed together with the two others occupying the other settee. So I moved everything over again but it trying to manage bags, roll and tea I spilt the tea all down my shirt. It was hot and wet. I eat the roll more hurriedly than was desirable and then took everything including the half drunk and spilt tea into the gents where I change shirt and returned to finish the tea.

I made my way to the top floor of the shopping centre one side of Victoria station given to a food court. Here at one end is the O’Grady sport pub with on either side restaurants, a Cafe Rouge and a Pizza place and Steak House. Further along there is Burger King and McDonalds, Subway and such like as well as toilets, In addition to the seating specific to a restaurant there was communal seating. I moved into the McDonalds seating area which I knew from previous experience was large and where one could usually find an out of the way table to relax and eat bring in. The area has been made over since my last visit in the latest Mac D livery which included four areas of armchair seating and other areas of double bench leather look alike seating as well as the conventional tables for four or two. I was evidently not the first to have discovered this facility as two businessmen, a younger one leading the other worked out something over a computer. Two others had their computers with them which suggested wireless availability and others looked as if they were relaxing enrooted. Someone did come by to clear and clean tables but there was no pressure although as I left around midday the number of vacant tables had considerably reduced. I read a chunk of the Audacity of Hope and then enjoyed the prawn baguette and Danish. I decided against a drink. It was raining hard on reaching the station so getting to coach station without getting wet posed a problem until I remembered that I could continue the length of station undercover along the first floor shopping centre which was angled tot he street level at the far end. I waited at the entrance until the traffic lights change to cross over the road to the Colonnade and second block of offices and small shops with a covered passage way which took one to the junction across from the entrance to the Coach station. Again I waited under cover and the lights enabled a quick move into the station. I checked the departures board to confirm that the coach for South Shields would depart from one of the bays at the far end of the station. As I travelled along one side it was evident that either the credit crunch was having its effect, or travel on a Thursday in January was limited. There were waiting seats everywhere and this was reflected on the coaches where the half past twelve departures appeared about a third full. I was able to find two seats by the entrance door into the coach parking area, There was just one instead of the two coaches for South Shields and Sunderland. The Newcastle coach had left at 12.30 although we did meet up again at Middlesbrough our first official stop. We were also less than half full. This was an older vehicles and less comfortable than on the outward journey. Instead of coffee I enjoyed a large glass of orange fruit juice when we stopped around 5.30 for 6, having consumed the second baguette. From Sunderland to South Shields I was the only person on the coach. I had not considered it cold in Croydon and central London but at out stop it was colder although I managed several walks around the pleasant walkway by the coach and lorry park as I felt I needed the exercise and some fresh air. It was even more cold at South Shields although not unpleasant.

The house however was distinctly cold as and it got colder as the evening progressed. I unpacked sort of, looked at the post and some of the accumulated emails some 45 items and checked out MySpace. I enjoyed soup and a roll, a banana and some water melon and then a coffee.

At ten I watched the second in the What happened series and this time Mr Peretti was examining the relationship between Dodi Al Fayed and Princess Diana. The programme was quite explicit about the son of the owner of Harrods and the Paris Hotel which his son left with Diana on that fatal night. I was much more impressed with this programme than that dealing with Paul Burrell. To understand Al Fayed and his son one understands the cultural background and the parental expectation and hope and the sons response. Irrespective of how Mr Al Fayed made and used his billionaire status wealth there is no doubt he both worshipped his son and was I believe also disappointed that the son did not share his drive and ambition in business. He became a very rich heir with a monthly cheque not dissimilar form today’s top footballers and film stars.

Shy, wealthy and with good looks Dodi found himself able to date some of the most beautiful and well known women in the world but also appeared unable to sustain a relationship and indeed there was evidence presented that he would date more than one individual at time without the two women being aware, or full aware of the situation. At the root of the tragedy was the wish of both father and son to be accepted within Anglo American society, especially Britain where Mr Al Fayed had bought the most famous store in the British Isles, Harrods. He was also one of the first ‘outsiders’ to acquire a football club and with ambitions of conquering all before him, appointing Kevin Keagan at one time. His mother was also a wealthy woman in her own right, sister of a Turkish billionaire arms dealer. Dodi received an appropriate education for someone with his background and also attended the Sandhurst military academy. He used the family wealth to finance and co-produce several recognised films, including the Oscar award winning Chariots of Fire and Hook. But the impression is that these were no more than divertissements. He appears to have been driven to find ways to please his father while remaining himself and he also is said to have hankered for fame, although I suspect this was only a means to find love for himself rather than his wealth and social position. At the same time there is evidence that he used his wealth to buy his place in society, always being prepared to take up the cheque. The film suggested that he enjoyed Cocaine because it made him feel more of a personality in his own right, but again the suggestion is that he was also a provider socially for friends and acquaintances along with the champagne and the caviar.

The programme suggests that he very serious about a relationship with the model Kelly Fisher with evidence that he had become engaged after a relationship spread over two summers and that she was on one yacht while Dodi was entertaining Diana at the same time on another adjacent. The available evidence is that Mr Al Fayed on meeting the Princess at a Charity event invited her to holiday with her sons which she accepted, and arising from this arranged for her to meet his son. The programme suggests that it was the combination of parental ambition and drive for personal fame which drove the relationship to begin and for Dodi to dump the model.

The sudden dramatic death of his only son was a devastating blow to his father and the programme suggests that the claims of a British Royal inspired assassination and erection of a flamboyant statue of the couple at Harrods together with the claims made at the Inquest have to be viewed a parental scream about what happened. I was left feeling sad about the both of them despite the disgraceful misuse of wealth. It also puzzling that the Princess should take up with such a man given her own commitment to the welfare of others. Perhaps she hoped his wealth could provide her a financial basis independent of the British establishment and to gain objectives. Such a relationship was entirely inappropriate for the mother of a future King, let alone a marriage.

Watching the programme meant I missed the opening half hour of Question Time, something which I have now done and which instead of discussing the inauguration of President Obama concentrated on the revelation that staff at Northern Rock were being paid 10% bonuses because they were repaying the government loan at a faster rate. In order to achieve this the bank has been asking customers to move their mortgages to other lending institutions and foreclosing quicker than other banks. Understandably the general public is horrified about the continuation of a culture which rewards people for doing their job more effectively than before although this only exposes the naivety and stupidity of the general public for not understanding the financial and economic system of the country. No one in government or the three main political parties is saying that we ought to opt out of the capitalist system and become a third world authoritarian communist state, to seriously attempt a social justice democracy. We live in a global competitive at times ruthless capitalist economy dependent on an effective and expanding financial services and where London City and Wall Street are two of the principal centres. You have to pay people the going rate to recruit the best and the more competent and to unpleasant things. Clearly there will be and has to be under a limiting of the bad debts and this means getting back money as one can, limiting and reducing the cost of existing lending and restricting new lending. It is the government‘s job to ameliorate the social consequences of the system putting itself right again. In a Party Political situation it is almost impossible for the government to tell the truth without the opposition being able to exploit coming up go a General Election However the by pretending ignorance or evading real questions as did Carolyn Flint any sympathy for the position of the government not just ebbed but turned away in a torrent, She was hopeless and Gordon needs to find something for her to do out of the media spotlight as quickly as possible.

The Late Night‘s politics show was enjoyable as Diane Abbot could not contain herself nor did Rageh Omar on the world wide impact of President Obama and Kwame Kwei-Armah on the President as a role model. Although all three were euphoric their analysis was will be considered and I heard nothing to challenge or disagree with, Mr Portillo was very cautious which was puzzling and I detect jealousy among certain sections of the White British population. I was not ready for bed and watched the second episode of Trial and retribution. A mistake but in had been a long and full day.

1468 Chanegd plans on a Sunday watching Football close to Canary Wharf

I awoke on Sunday August 17th around six am and before I set off for London around eleven am. It was to become a day not only different from my intention before commencing trip, but also different from that which I proposed for myself as I watched Britain's successes at the Olympic games.

The revised plan was to take the train to Victoria and then if as expected the Jubilee line was closed going Eastwards, take the river boat to North Greenwich from the Embankment travelling by way of the circle or district line. The plan was executed and arriving at the pier I was advised to pay when on board joining was a comparatively small queue for the Thames Clipper. There was a bigger boat than the clippers moored at the top end of the pier so that other vessels had to truck in behind adding to the time taken to moor and then to cast off. A bus travelling passed the houses of Parliament towards Richmond and Kingston arrived although I did not note the direction it took as it left. A Thames clipper was noted going directly on its way towards Waterloo without stopping and the notice board stated that the service had been cancelled as the boar was going out of service reminding of what happened on my trip from North Greenwich to Waterloo when fortunately two cruisers had arrived at the same time and I had taken the second had been able to get a seat at the open end at the rear from where I was able to take photos.

As the queue was developing behind my position and without any guarantee that there would be two boats as before I decided to show flexibility and adaptability by returning to the underground and taking the district circle line onward to the joint Bank/Monument station in the City of London for the Dockland's. At Monument I had to go through a series of underground passages from one line station to another only to find the entrance to the Dockland Light Railway was closed and an adjacent notice explained that the line was closed for engineering works over the weekend. I therefore had to make my way back through the passages to exit the station where across a road there was a replacement bus services. This took me through the city to the ring road at Tower Bridge, which I suspect Americans in times past thought they were buying when the previous London Bridge was sold to them.
From the Bridge the road to the former docklands goes through a depressing mixture of local authority/former local authority estates full of uniform dwellings devoid of character intermingled with new "apartment" development and commercial enterprises. It has the appearance of an unplanned sprawl. The road is the only main road between the Blackwall tunnel under the Thames and the first bridge crossing to south east London at Tower Bridge. I noted that there was considerable traffic build up in the opposite direction.

The revised plan of the morning been to enjoy a lunch at the Dome and then go to Cineworld at East India Dock to see with Mama Mia again or the spoof spy thriller Get Smart. However by the time to buss reach the East India Dock station I had decided to find somewhere for lunch on the inner dock between Canada Wharf and East India where there was a row of restaurant bars at ground level in the wharf side building converted into apartment lofts. Although the bus pulled up by the East India station I decided to continue on to Canary Wharf where the transport was likely to fill up on the return journey. On a previous visit I forgotten that the Cinema is on the stop before Canary on the Docklands Light Railway and had continued on to a stop within sight of the Dome. Today the bus passed through the police check point for all transport into the docklands area established after the IRA bombing of the area in 1996 which marked the end of a 17 month cease fire. Only twelve years ago security surveillance remains high because of the potentially new threat to what has become a symbol of the financial wealth of new Britain and where from the Thames the skyline reminded one visiting American of New York.

I knew where to head for but before crossing the bridge stopped at the Cat and Canary pub where two of the key football matches of the day were being televised live. The first was Chelsea versus Portsmouth at one thirty. The train from East Croydon to Victoria had been the local train starting at Sutton and there had been no seats as it was full of Chelsea fans going to the game. Such were the conditions that I got off the train at Clapham and waited the three or four minutes for the train from Brighton which had twelve coaches instead of four and a choice of seats where I had the good fortune to chose one where someone had left copies of the News of the World and the Sunday People which I added to the Mail on Sunday which I had bought at the station, having also bought two Pecan Danish and a bottle of cold water at the Supermarket £1.61, £7 the train ticket and £1.50 the newspaper (222.47, 229.47, 230.97).

Although it was just before 1.30pm when I looked in at the Cat and Canary I did not see anyone eating lunch and although the weather was accelerating quickly between warm sunshine and ominous looking rain cloud, I decided to eat outside at the first restaurant Bridge, Browns part of chain, and I chose a table close to the entrance so that if it did rain I could quickly take cover. There was a scattering of other people, some just enjoying a lunchtime drink while others were tucking in to the advertise Sunday brunch of roast beef or roast chicken.

I had walked straight passed the desk near the front entrance to the open air tables and was unsure if meals were ordered inside at the bar or when a waiter had time to attend. I soon learnt that if I had waited at the desk someone would have quickly escorted to a table of choice and provide a copy of the full menu and list of available drinks £1.90 (232.87)

Only on return home did I learn that Browns first entered the good tradition British Food restaurant Industry in 1973 with its first premises in central London. There are now a over a dozen restaurants located in the capital and at major towns and cities including Bath and Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge, Brighton and Windsor.

Having asked one waitress what to do and other quickly brought me the menu although I already knew I wanted the Road Beef. To drink I settled for half of Peroni Nastro Azzurro, an increasingly popular Italian premium beer, recommended by the waiter an which I enjoyed immensely. This beer enjoyed by Italian was rebranded and marketed by Miller in 2005 and has since enjoyed an increasing share of the market. I no longer drink beer escape for an occasional bottle of the inexpensive Fosters but as they day progressed was converted.

Without prior knowledge there was no expectation about the meal £10.95 (243.82) which comprised four slices of beef and a large chunk of Yorkshire pudding and good portion of vegetables well cooked and served in gravy. Up early and with a light breakfast I was ready for the meal served around 2pm which I greatly enjoyed, especially as the rain clouds passed over and the sun was warm. I alternated between reading the papers and observing fellow diners which included a party of USA speaking Asians enjoying a long midday drink. I ended the meal with a coffee not as warm and stronger than I like £1.90 (245.72) with tip £2 (247.72). I continue to relax. Read and observe until 3pm when I decided it was time to adjourn to the Cat and canary to find a place for a match between Manchester United and Newcastle at 4 pm with the preliminaries at 3.30.

The first thing that struck me was that a number of people were eating meals outside on the wide veranda overlooking the East India basin. The second was that almost every table and chair was occupied but I did find one in the far corner under a large screen TV which involved a stretch of the neck. Before settling down to watch the end of the match which Chelsea were winning 3.0 against Portsmouth, I visited the Gentleman's and bought by second half of Peroni which was around £1.90 (249.62) Shortly after I returned a terrific goal completed the route 4.0 scored by someone who I believe is a new player called Decco. England's team member Peter Crouch played his first Premiership game for Portsmouth after transfer from Liverpool.

The end of this match resulted in some of the audience leaving and I was able to move to a leather arm chair in an ideal location to view the next game without it be a strain on the neck. I had cautiously bought half a pint because if Manchester scored earlier and it looked a if Newcastle was not at the races I would return to Croydon to watch television and write. I was not yet switched on the football season with the Olympics and the County Cricket Championships my principal interests.

Oh ye of little faith. It was a very good game to watch where Newcastle were the better team overall but where both sides could have won had all the chances been taken and where the 1.1 final score was about right. Both teams were without key players, For Newcastle Own and Viduka were absentees, and where there is continued speculation that Owen unhappy at being asked to take a pay cut is looking to move. Manchester had Ronaldo injured on the bench but where he wants to move to Real Madrid. I was most impressed by Jonas Gutierrez the Argentinean midfield winger who had moved from Real Madrid. In the twenty second minute Martens who led the line on his own hit a bullet header which Var de sar had no hope of stopping. Unfortunately with Taylor off the field receiving treatment Manchester equalised within a minute and despite various opportunities both sides failed to score again. Given that last season Newcastle lost 6.0 the result is a good omen. Enjoying the start of the game I was confident that the rest would be worth watching so I bought my second pint with some plain crisps £4.60 (254.12). The result was so encouraging that I decided that I would try and attend a live game as soon as it was possible to do so. It had been a very enjoyable afternoon, which was just as well given the difficulty I then getting back to central London, At first it looked as if he the dockland railway had recommenced but this was to further on rather than going into London. As soon as the bus turned into the main road towards Tower bridge I was relieved to have found a seat as for over an hour we inched our way a few yards and then stopping. It was hot and boring and tempers in the bus were frayed as the journey progressed.

On arrival at Bank, eventually it was cold but not raining and I quickly made by way to London bridge, the Bridge, crossed over the Thames where visitors was stopping to have their photos against the Tower Bridge and with HMS Belfast to one side. At London Bridge, the station, I was able to get onboard the train to Brighton which was in station but where there was another twenty minutes before departure time. During the football I had eaten the Danish and I was looking forward to having something more, forgetting that on Sunday the supermarket would have closed early. I and to make do with a soup but this proved adequate. I lay on the bed to watch the Andrew Marr programmes at 9 and then at ten, started the nine o'clock but woke again around 10. This was a signal to get into bed for the night which I did and was soon asleep.

On one hand all I had done was have a roast Sunday lunch and watched a football match on television, something I could easily have done at home without much of the expense and without the time and hassle of the travelling. Yet I still consider that I had a very good day which fitted into the rest of mini break and where the unique aspects was enjoying a meal in the open air, reading newspapers and observing life around for some two hours. I made no effort to pack until the following day.

1449 A return to Ruskin Headington, Headington Village and Headington

On waking the first thing I thought was that, the weather had broken. The rain had been tropical, fierce and prolonged and on my first look outside, to reload the car, the impression was of more rain to come. It was also chill, a damp chill. I was still governed by the heat rash so made a priority visiting a chemist as soon as I reached Oxford. Having walked Burford, through the town to its riverside and worked out where the Magistrates and Juvenile Courts had been located, there was no need to visit again. Burford marked one extremity of my patch as a child care officer 1964-1967. The Marques of Blanford chaired the Magistrate's Court, his wife the Juvenile Court, and once every six months we reported to the juvenile benches of Witney and Burford on the progress of those children committed to the care of the local authority by the courts instead of an Approved School, following an agreement reached between the Children's Officer and Magistrates in the County. Memories of individuals with whom I worked and of those for whom I worked remain vivid but on those of the children's officer and her husband can be included in the work. Barbara became deputy chief Inspector of Social Work, while her husband was an important child psychiatrist who gave me self confidence in my ability to understand and to communicate with clients in a constructive way. I had heard about the measures taken to cope with influx of visitors to Oxford city as the volume as built up since the 1960's but I had not idea that it had become impossible to park anywhere unless you held a resident's permit, except at the park and ride system and the few official public car parks around the city, The situation was not helped to day with work, to improve bus lanes, taking place along several of the main routes in and out and around the city. This was so along the road into Summertown where I had first lived after successfully completing the Certificate of Child Care Course at the University of Birmingham and awarded the Home Office Certificate to practice as a qualified officer. As a consequence of work along the shopping area I missed the entry to the car park, if it continued to exist. Summertown is the home of the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief and of Oxford City Radio. I had two partially furnished rooms at the top of the house and a tiny alcove of kitchenette, with other facilities shared, including a young couple and their first infant who I befriended as well as one of the other residents who lived at the house for a short period of time. Others I rarely saw, let alone knew. I took the road to Marston, this runs parallel to Ring road around North Oxford.

The existence of countryside within the city as well as the Parks and the river areas is a feature of Oxford which help creates its uniqueness and compactness. During the drive I did come across one small area of road where it was possible to park as the houses all had long drive ways, however by this time I was aware that the cooler conditions had not affected the inflammation rash which made walking difficult and I decided against leaving the car and taking a bus to the city centre. I would investigate if I could park within the city. I continued until joining the London Road turning down the Headington Hill passed where Sir Robert Maxwell had built up the Pergammon Press as well as his family home, before becoming a Member of Parliament briefly and buying the Daily Mirror. The site is close to the former City Polytechnic with both now forming the second city University. Reaching the bottom of the hill I decided against continuing to Magdalene Bridge with the College on the right and St Hilda's on the left and made the sharp right discovering a new college building in the process of completion and ended back along Marston road and this time decide to continue to Headington and the car park next to one side of the Bury Knowles Park and supermarket . I take a ticket for a four hour stay and park the car against the wall which forms a passage way along one side of the park. From the car park around the supermarket and turn left reaching the park where the public toilets comprised a building with a row of four facing the street and a row of four facing into the park each with their own door and available for both sexes. This is a novel approach which present undesirables although does provide personal space for drug users and for those on the street to have a home at night or when the weather is poor during a day, although from their state of cleanliness I assume their use is monitored. Across from the park entrance is the coop supermarket at the end of the road which leads to St Leonards Road where the pair of semi detached houses was made into a top and lower flat each with their own garden space. I occupied the top flat for over a year before buying a first home at Teddington in the Borough of Richmond and Twickenham. It has was demolished, soon after I departed and replaced by a small block of flats. On the corner still is the garden shop and five doors along the post office in the same building as before. It is still as busy with three assistants. I top up my mobile. The four shops between the garden and the post office are now involved with catering. The first offers coffees and pastries at this time of day with street tables and appears popular. Equally popular as the morning progressed is Posh Fish which in addition to the take aways, functions as a restaurant offering a range of fish dishes from £7. There is a Chinese which looks closed and a Turkish restaurant which looks pricey and popular. I try to remember what was the building opposite the cinema looking building. This is now a new block of flats nearing completion available only for key workers in the city. On the opposite side of the road there is an internet café and a bistro type restaurant with street tables. There is a pizza takeaway my side. The traffic light junction here is one of the busiest because of the constant stream of luxury Wifi buses coaches to London. One offers a service every ten minutes and the other appears to be just as frequent. Headington appears to be the second city stop after the central bus station en route to the capital city. From the junction I take the left turn where there is still the hardware and household store used over forty years before and the bakery with café, although there are also a couple restaurants one also looks closed. There are over a dozen such places including a fashionable looking bistro further down the main road, as well as two popular Inns and a small hotel. I found a chemist where during my examination of potentially suitable products a talkative young women who had lost he mobile phone while talking to a Russian man the previous night had come to consume her ration of Methadone which she said was going down well. The product selected appeared to be the most suitable and worked so that within twenty four hours I became fully mobile without discomfort. I debated having lunch at the Dew Drop Inn but decided on a carton of orange fruit juice, half of which replaced the cold water I had drunk from the flask. I bought a couple of rolls although I still had some of the baguette and a small tub of rice pudding which I fancied but no spread which I decided to do without. I enjoyed lunch al fresco using the Havant bought Ham, with the rice pudding and some orange. I finished off the flask coffee. It was then time to revisit Old Headington, where I lived in a converted stable block for my first year at Ruskin College. Old Headington is amazing, an ancient rural village within seconds of the car park and used to be the homes of Tolkein and C S Lewis and other notable academic such as Sir Isaiah Berlin and David Marquand, of Lord Nuffield who made his money from cars and founded Nuffield post graduate college. It is also the family home of Emma Watson who plays Harmione Granger in the Harry Potter films. There is one new building, a church and which is opposite the Christian Counselling centre. The Black Boys used by locals and the White Heart where in term time there is a mixture of accents between Oxford and Ruskin. I continued along what is a country lane as the main college building is set back in tree covered grounds with only the former stable block against the roadway wall. I lived on the first floor in cubicle cell like room with a single bed on one side and a desk on the other with limited area for clothing and books. If someone entertained a wife or girl friend the experienced was shared by everyone.

The majority of students were accommodated in the main house. Now it has become a teaching centre for a Certificate in Social Work Course and there are small residential blocks as well as an additional teach area built around the extensive grounds with border countryside. There were some cars parked by no movement of people so I saw on a seat under a tree for a while and reflected, I moved quickly when I saw the changing colour of the clouds and reached the White Heart when there was a heavy but brief shower I stopped inside for half a pint of diet cola. There was a party of student from diverse lands ordering lunch, and one other inside the Inn who stepped out into the garden area for a smoke when the rain stopped. There were to others in the garden who stayed out under protection during the rain There was only occasional traffic outside and no movement of people anyway in the village until leaving when someone came out of their attractive three storey country town house. On the way back I tool the side road entrance the public Library building located at one end of the park, It is a large park given the size of Headington. With a vast area of grass land and trees. Near the car park and main road there is a good children's safe play area and dotted around a few picnic tables. The area neat the Library building has attractive formal beds of flowers and plants and then an interesting garden of exotic bushes and plants. In the opposite corner there are several tennis courts and activity areas and some men were felling trees nearby. I sat again and reflected more. Down the hill used to be the Oxford City Football ground then dilapidated and playing outside the football league we went occasionally during term time in that first year. Oh dear me I have just lost again all that I have written over the past half hour and I need a bath, and to pack and journey home. The most interesting building in Headington used to be the Cinema where my most memorable experience while living in college during the second year was to see Les Enfant du Paradis with Marcel Marceau and which together with the cinema in Walton Street near the college were cinema art centres with the cinema next to the bus station and the theatre showing popular films from the Sound of Music to Marlene Dietrich and Tosca. The Oxford Playhouse theatre where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor performed was in the a nearby street with the Randolph Hotel on the corner on the other side of the bus station. I digress because the well known building today in the whole of Oxford is also in Headington opposite the former cinema. This is the house with a full size shark embedded in the roof. I kid you not. My time was up in the car park without paying more and contact with the garage revealed the cost of the work and that a road test was still to be carried out. I therefore made my way towards Bicester and stopped at a service station with a Little Chef to one side and a garage with extended facilities for the traveller including small Wild Bean Café. I waited here until the call of ready came but then circumnavigated the town first to find the garage and then to find my way to the M40 and onto the A34 and A 43 to Northampton and the Motorway. I had a sleep and also loaded the software and inserted the hardware for Wifi connection. There were two available services at the stop but I waited until settling in to the travel Lodge for the next four nights at Trowell on the MI north of Nottingham City. The cost of repairs and services was £300 which I believe is of a similar order to having hired a car and where I had lost about three hours on the first day of travel and a couple of hours this day but where I also was not in any condition for activity. What did I get for £9 a night? A large first floor room with a king size double bed , a full size convertible into a second double bed settee, A large wall length desk with working TV at one end and tea making facilities before a large area to place my case and the hanging wardrobe and shelving plus a bath and other facilities. Admittedly this was an almost on motorway located room so noisy with windows open to let in the air. But I was able to sleep well after dining on red wine with large green olives, soup and a pasta. The rest of the grapes, a Danish and coffee. I had enjoyed fruit juice on arrival and later in the evening. At the Marks and Spencer's store I bought a two for £5 large carton of fresh fruit salad which included strawberries and grapes as well pieces of orange and apple. It was a good portion worth £2.50. I also bought a pack of four pan au chocolat and a single pasta salad. I also decided on an ordinance survey Map of the city area rather than a map booklet. Then miraculously I got myself on line and was sable to eliminate without reading of 90% of the accumulated emails. One alerted that I won £10.60 on the Euro Lottery and two were from cousins to ask that I join in an electronic petition to number 10 in support of a specialist hospital for service categories. Previously I supported the government view and that of the High Command that it was better for the injured to bet treated as close to their families as possible getting the best specialist treatment available. There is still a strong case for this especially as many of the wounded will not be able to continue their service career and therefore using a civilian hospital will help adjustment to what will be a major change again in their young lives. However given the number of casualties, that individuals can be transferred for specialist operations and that medical personnel can be given short term or sessional contracts I am in sympathy with those who want to be with others who have undergone similar experiences and to do so in a service. I suspect costs will be a factor. It is still shocking how we appear to be treating some of those who are wounded and the media could help more by keeping the public informed about what is happening on a daily basis

1445 It couild have been a lot worse

It is just as well I wrote that I had prepared myself to expect the unexpected during my journey of 340 miles on Friday from the North East of England to just outside Portsmouth.

I had packed my main suitcase the previous night and gathered together in an organised fashion everything required in three medium sized soft trolley bags, plus haversack and document briefcase. The first task of the early morning was food. I prepared four sandwiches of cheese and ham wrapped in foil and then placed in containers for Saturday and Sunday and then prepared two mixed salads in containers of lettuce, salad pepper, cucumber, olives, tomato and chopped fine pieces of salmon in a tomato and basil sauce. There were two Danish type pastries and fruit, strawberries for Saturday with a banana and a pear, and grapes for Sunday with another pear and banana.

In the second bags I prepared a large salad for the journey, some prawns in shell, two Danish type pastries, the remainder of ham, cheese, lettuce cucumber and tomato which would not last my absence but my last until Monday Tuesday. There was also picnic cups, glass and plate, knives forks and spoon, kitchen roll, waste bags, tea towels.

I posted two Blogs where I had difficulty doing so before bedtime. I assembled luggage in vehicle as would be required during the day, in the evening and could be left overnight in the vehicle. I check weather forecasts. Plants inside and outside the house were watered, washed up and had a cup of coffee. It was still 9,30 when I left having hoped it would have been closer to eight o'clock. I had decided on the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert, the two LP's of the Music Hair and Miss Saigon tapes, her first back up tapes of Long Play records and the second a back of the double tape.

I love Miss Saigon I saw the original London production three possible four times enjoying the music, the spectacle and the Madam Butterfly storyline. I adore Madam Butterfly have a CD Performance. I began the day with Miss Saigon and completed the work before arriving at the Scotch Corner service area for prepared coffee and a Danish. It was a glorious sunny morning and I remember remarking to myself that the vehicle was running like a dream. Ho Ho Ho!

Before reaching Scotch Corner there were already roadside earning notices that the M25 was already a crawl between the junction with the M1 and the M3. It was time for plan B and in fact I kicked myself for not checking the alternative beforehand. This involved continuing on the M1 until Northampton Service area and turn off and taking the A 43 on the road to the Midland cities by Silverstone race track and then taking the A 34, joining the M40 briefly, and then following the A34 all the way until connecting with the A3

I continued in good spirits deciding on lunch at the Nottingham Trowell Service area where I would be staying for the cricket the following week. It was very hot and later I learnt the hottest day of the year. The radio had advised of significant chaos on all major roadways with several closed for hours at a time because of accidents as families sent off on their annual long holidays intermingling with the usual Friday rush to complete travels and get home for the weekend as quickly as practical. I remember what Friday afternoon on the M25 was like and chided myself for ever contemplating going that way.

The shock of the day was the news that Labour had lost their second safest seat in Scotland to the Scottish Labour Party. This was not a surprise to me as it was evident that the Prime Minister and the Labour Party hierarchy had lost touch with the mood among their own supporters as well as the middle ground of those without party political allegiance. I anticipated that despite all the arguments about changing leadership there would be open talk of doing so. As the day progressed, especially the run through of the first editions, it was revealed that Cabinet Ministers had told the PM directly or indirectly that he had to change his position and that of the party over the summer or there would be a move to replace him.

I also listened to Dr Mark Kermode do his run through of the Top Ten box office films of the past week before reviewing the latest releases. Just after Silverstone as I approached a junction the traffic became stationery and within a couple of minutes police arrived to close the road ask the oncoming traffic to take the slip road as I was able to do and then find that the road was clear the other side of the junction and have time to look back and see a horrendous accidents. Shortly after leaving the A43 for the A 34 I pulled up at a lay-by for a cold drink and because I was tired, There was a great sign earning that the area was a lorry theft hot spot so I decided to continue to the M 40 Cherwell Valley service area for a longer break and where the A34 then went via Oxford to Portsmouth and Southampton.

A couple of minutes after setting off I note that the radio had stopped and then as I approached a roundabout and was going round the engine cut out completely and there was a smell of burning. I got out as quickly as I could removing my coast and brief case on an island junction rather than the central roundabout. The car was in a dangerous position as vehicles swept round and also continued from the direction I had travelled. I contacted the AA who advised it could be up to an hour before I am reached despite advising of the dangerous location I try and direct traffic away from my stationery vehicle so I advise the police. I sped the next half hour directing traffic. Police contact to say just has information passed to them and will send two officers to assist. AA then phone to say 5 mins away. I am taken off round about to safe lay-by near by and the officer then attempts to sort out the problem. Definitely electrical burn out but what ? Two community police officers to establish everything is OK so there must have been communication between police and AA. Possibly some of the motorists/ lorry driver advised of my situation and efforts.

AA officer works out that when I left the lay-by the starter motor had jammed and then burnt out and would need replacing. Vehicle jump started and then road tested. I then drive vehicle with AA following to Bicester, garage of Worldwide Automotive Ltd. They will arrange starter motor and advise of cost Monday, cash payments only and then be ready for collection on Tuesday. Later all out cost £35 ho ho but provide Citroen Car T834 AKX for my use until then, Find garage in Bicester and add fuel. The slowly get only way having transferred all the luggage from one car to another. There is rock festival at Blenheim this week which may or may not account why road is choc block ahead so I follow other vehicles as they take a different route joining in A 34 later when the road is clear but stationery opposite direction. Road goes round Oxford towards Newbury. Decide to go to services to stop and find out about car lights, radio etc. Miss turning and go to new private secured village situation and motorist impatient as I try and work out what to do. It is a weekend of impatient motorists!

Go to McDonalds at Service area and have McChicken meal with Diet Coke on outside bench in the warm evening. Before leaving car note an alarm sounding and that rear lights are on. Because of what has happened before mind has stopped thinking. Ring mobile of garage and they think it is to do with having unintentionally put side lights on. I turn off lights but alarms sounds continue. Only later do I work out this is clock alarm going off at wrong time. Muppet. Will decide to tell garage later. I write down the car registration number on garage card. This was brilliant given subsequent events.

Drive on anxious to try before darkness but must have misread map because road takes me away from Portsmouth to Southampton and the M27. This is OK as it will help re morning but it is getting later and darkness descends as I am on M7 towards Portsmouth and A 3. Pass junction 8 required for the morning and note roadwork’s area for extra time morning. Come of junction before by mistake and read of map in off road area does not really help. Rejoin M27 and take A3 but which slip road at the junction do I take. In the end decide on Waterlooville and what luck as once approach end of slip road there is sign saying Havant. This involves taking dark area of overhanging tree. At end of this area there is a road to Leigh Park and to Havant and decide to go to Havant and before reaching town centre see sign Rowlands Castle and follow this road for sometime and then straight ahead I see Harvester and next to it Innkeepers. Park. Register at Bar as requested and alas my room is on first floor which involves negotiating three doors with luggage.

I eat greater part of salad in lettuce bowl, Danish pastry and coffee. By the time I have done this I am tired and ready for bed. Must have arrived around 10pm and with unpacking and food and preparing for morning and then some writing midnight passes and onto at least 1 am. I am so looking forward to tomorrow do not sleep well and wake up during night do some more writing.

1919 A trip to Leeds for cricket and a last look at the Tory Manifesto 2010

I am in a room at the Bradford Leeds Airport Travel Lodge having watched the gut wrenching first episode of Five Daughters, a series of three interconnected dramas based on the killing of five young prostitutes in Suffolk in 2006, all of whom were also dependent on illegal drug use. I had intended to watch the second on the BBC i player and then the final live on the Television. Sometimes I cannot cope with more than one sad, tragic and sickening event, real to the parents, brothers and sisters, friends and the local community where they lived.

At the front of the Travel Lodge it is possible to see and planes taking off or landing at the airport, just across the roadway. yet from my open window at the rear of the building there is occasional sound of traffic on the main road from Leeds to Harrogate, and silence as soon as it is closed as the evening cools and dusk descends across the green farmland across a valley with not a dwelling in view.

I had no idea the location would be so good when I booked up in December to attend the Championship cricket game at the Yorkshire County ground Headingley and worked out that this was the nearest lodge at the amazing cost of £29 for the three nights.

The day went well until Yorkshire won the toss.

I decided not to set the alarm and trust that when I woke for the second time it would be around dawn between 5 and 7 am. It was just before 5 so after making myself comfortable I returned to bed and relaxed for just over half an hour before rising and completing preparations commenced the previous evening. Monday had been a solid working day in which the kitchen was given a great clean after its use for repairing and redecorating the garage and patio area, then the day room floor and surfaces, while the washing and drying was taking place. Late afternoon I called in at Azda for ‘pain au chocolate’ breakfasts and Danish pastries plus another tub of coleslaw, Milano salami and liquorice twists. At filling up the petrol tank at 118 pence a litre, a horrendous price, I called in at Morrison’s with my £5 voucher from using the supermarket petrol station and bought grapes, two melons and coffee, putting the extra on the credit card. After making up the sandwiches for the day and slicing a cucumber for picnic meals over the following three days, I enjoyed a bacon steak in a sesame seed bun. Later I was too look in the mirror and it was not the size of my tum which shocked but the double chin. I have become so different what I had always anticipated.

There was time to play a few rounds of Mahjong before packing the car and making a thermos of coffee.

I set off a little later that intended, just after eight arriving outside the cricket ground just after ten after an eventless journey in partial sunshine. I knew from previous experience it was wise to arrive between 9.30 and 10 to be sure of parking close to the ground and with relief I secured a place within a few metres of the Headingley entrance which remained a building site as the finishing touches were being put on the new Carnegie Pavilion and University teaching complex about six storeys high in a not unpleasant green and with a solar panel multi arched roof. I remain to be convinced of the building design or how it fits into the already makeshift of cricket ground after the Yorkshire members refused to move to a new ground on a Greenfield site outside the city boundaries.

Before the weekend Nicholas Clegg, or should I say David Cameron mark II, was being pressed by the media commentators to say who he would support and not support in the event of the increasingly likely unbalanced House of Commons, unbalanced because the number of seats for the Liberal democrats will not reflect the percentage of the popular vote.

He then said what everyone else had been saying that a continuing Labour Government who came last in the popular vote but held the greatest number of seats was not democratic and as a Liberal Democrat he would not support. This increased speculation that if Gordon Brown made way for someone else he might be able to do a deal but as was also pointed out the Lib Dems have been able to join with the Tories in running several councils to keep Labour out. The big issue was electoral reform and David Cameron Change Man mark I said he did support first past the post, well Turkey’s do not vote for Christmas or Thanks Giving, do they?

This led the politicians and the some media to accuse Change Man mark II of being arrogant and assuming how the public would vote. As soon as one media follows one track the rest follow like bleating sheep, unscrupulous and dishonest and living in their own curious world cut off from everyone else who on the whole is keeping their own Council until they are able to deliver what they hope is a coup de grass.

The continuation of the Lib Dem surge of over 10 percentage points is the problem. If the pollster employed by already politically committed newspapers and media organisations to the two party system of confrontational government and opposition are still admitting the Lib Dem surge than it can be assume it is greater than the figures being shown. Remember the first indication was a Twitter leak of the actual results which where they “corrected,” by increasing the number of don’t knows. All the subsequent polls admit the results are within a 5% margin of error and have between 8 to 10% undecided. This means that if the Lib Dems gained a swing of 10% to them after one broadcast they can pick up another 10% or more with the final broadcast and the last few days when it will be difficult for the Pollsters and media to sustain presenting a false position because of the discredit which will follow when the actual result is shown to be significantly different from what they are showing. No one is now likely to switch to Labour or Tories who was not previously committed and likelihood is that the hard core vote will swing to Cameron Mark II in order to punish the two main parties who they feel are responsible for our economic situation and genuine dissatisfaction with the political state. The media and the pundits got it run in the lead up to the broadcasts and therefore nothing they say since means anything until the final broadcast and people make up their minds over the weekend.

Time is also running out for my review of the Party political manifesto’s with over 150 pages to go of the Tory and Labour works of aspiration.

Starting with the Tory Change society section they mention that Carers provide some £87 billion ongoing free service, a sum twice that is immediately required to deal with the Banker’s debt. As previously mentioned the great new Tory idea is that those who are not already caring for individuals should care in the form of national and other services for everyone else. In my view this will cover for the reduction in public expenditure and which in turn will alter the balance between the public and private sector in the economy without any dramatic increase in commercial activity.
The other associated approach is to ensure that fewer people become dependent on NHS paid for drugs and care by insisting no one smokes, drinks or eats too well. This seems to me to construct the model citizen of the future as someone who will work longer and harder, use the majority of any free time in providing personal care and other good works, and stops drinking, smoking and over eating thus closing more pubs, tobacco manufacturing and junk food restaurants, reducing supermarket profits and staffing levels. It will be OK to spend more money on profit making entertainments though.

On a more serious note there is broad agreement to make doctors earn their money by providing a round the clock service and for doctors and nurses to stop killing those who enter hospital by reducing the amount of secondary infections.

The Conservative’s big idea on education is to encourage people to set up their own schools independently of local authority education departments. This might happen in a few areas where there are lots of stay at home parents whose other partner is earning sufficiently to enable them not to have to earn a living themselves. There is a plan to raise teaching standards which we all agree is a worthwhile objective but without overall increasing education expenditure will inevitably lead to larger class sizes in the short terms in order to pay existing teachers more and to attract new recruits. There is also a plan to convert soldiers into teachers and improve discipline in schools as a consequence. This sounds similar to the Hitler Youth and the Young Communist league programmes no less.

The Manifesto is full of contradictions having emphasised the need to encourage voluntarism, independence and deregulation the Tories want to improve quality against quantity and direct the teaching day into certain areas such as English, Maths Sciences and History, introducing a minimum standard reading test at the age of six. Yet if parents do not embrace the Big Society idea, who else will promote and effectively influence the young if is not primary and secondary teachers?

The Tory Party used to be party for law and order which tended to mean official covering up when things went wrong. Their main aim during the present election campaign is to show that crimes of violence have increased although the national crime figures do not bear this out, so they then resort to quoting individual examples from recent history of knife crime in particular, saying that the carrying of a knife should result in the presumption of a custodial sentence thus further removing the independence of the courts and filling up the increasingly ineffective prisons.

The contradiction is their subsequent statement of wanting to give the police greater discretion in who is charged and who is not and processing criminals more quickly by video linking to custody cells and courts. They are also suggesting that town and city centres have got worse on weekends when in fact no go areas for oldies were first created in the 1980’s, after youngsters brought back their two week annual holidays in Spain of drugs drinks and sex to the cold dark winter nights. The small amount of attention given to crime in all the manifesto’s indicates that this is not one of the key subjects in this election, except conspiracy among Members of Parliament to misuse their expenses while asking everyone else to accept cuts in their living standards.

The manifesto criticises the government’s decision to early release some prisoners because of severe overcrowding which had resulted being unable to focus on rehabilitation with the consequence that an increasing number of people re-offend within a short time of release up to over 90% from 25% in the early 1960’s, in part by filling up the prisons with drug addicts and mentally ill people. It costs over £150000 a year for a young offender to be looked after in a custodial centre and where there is no evidence that doing so prevents them from continuing to offend after they are released.

I can find very little about the creative arts in any of the manifestos but the Conservatives do praise Brighton as a creative and diverse city with 50 festivals year. Brighton is likely to send the first Green Party member to the House of Common this election which is why the traditional parties may not in fact be so keen on the creative arts, in fact.

The Conservatives will introduce a new agenda for Politics in the UK while remaining opposed to any change to the electoral system of first past the post which results in governments holding office with under fifty percent of the total votes cast and in this election under 40% as things stand. They want to take power away from the political elite yet the manifesto is full of a different set of targets and priorities so what is the point of the Tory Party or any other political party if is not to insist that its policies and programmes are put into practice by making even more laws than before? The Conservatives want to restore confidence in politics after is has been tarnished and broken, but who by? They want more transparency yet did not object to information on expenses being censored. I know I am being unfair but contemporary politics is about half truths and misrepresentations. A large number of voters are full of prejudices and bigotry but what happens t any politicians who calls it as it is?

I do like the idea of pubic hearings for the appointment of heads of advisory bodies and I am in favour of restricting their number to technical expertise and bodies which require political impartiality.

The Manifesto does admit that its last government was primarily responsible for dramatically reducing the powers of local government and centralizing power within individual authorities. I supported the idea of a City boss for London and would also support for Greater Manchester and Birmingham but I am less sure of Merseyside, Tyneside and Leeds unless it was in effect a sub regional elected controller but this would reintroduce a new tier of government in these areas. Having lost control of Newcastle the Tory plan suggests an attempt to gain power back, if it works for them in Tyneside as it has in London.

I fully support Tory proposals to cut back on the surveillance, particularly on the powers of local authorities. There is a commitment on having a free vote on repeal of the act banning Fox Hunting

In a section Strengthening the Union, The Manifesto declares that it does not oppose the proposed referendum on giving more powers to the Welsh Assembly. I support measures to also deal with the West Lothian Question. This will involve measures to ensure that only Members of Parliament for England and Wales vote on domestic matters excluding those from Scotland and Ireland.

I am puzzled by the section of the environment which appears to face in opposite directions at the same time. The document recognises the need for a greater emphasis on environmental protection but is not favour of retaining or extending enforcement measures.

The section on National defence and the role of the UK in the world supports the continuation of the Trident Missile system but supports strategic defence review which by implication means cutbacks in other areas which are not involved in combat situations. Labour has the same approach. This I suspect means the focus will be on cutting back on the navy and airforce hierarchy excluding helicopters, and also on some ships and aircraft.

The Manifesto leaves its most controversial subject until the end, Europe. On one hand Party Members remain anti European, and the Party is unable to join with other mainstream Conservatives parties such as those presently running France and Germany and instead allied itself with some curious parties some with fascist views. The basic problem is within the Party, The likely outcome is that disaffected Tories will vote for the United Kingdom Independence Party and Labour the National Front with in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland those of similar positioning will vote for the respective nationalist parties. So there is not much in the Manifesto that appeals although I admire Mr Cameron for the changes he has made and is making in those could well form the next Government although he appears to have mortgaged what he will do because of the Banker’s betrayal and what is in the Manifesto in order to retain its hard core of membership and its main financial backers.

1421 An integrated Transport system and Duffy

I am a dreamer, the Welsh singer Duffy concluded her performance at Glastonbury which I enjoyed this afternoon as The sun shone intensely on one of the warmest days of the summer this year as I scanned photos onto the computer. I gave the plants and myself a mid afternoon drink of water. Her voice is not clear and there is no wow factor about her performance but she is very enjoyable to listen to, over and over again. This was also my reaction to The Editors. but I only lasted for two numbers with the Raconteurs. I enjoyed the Verve but headliners? MGMT I cannot remember anything.

Last night I was in the midst of writing about the bridges over the River Tyne when I ran into an AOL problem before being able to copy the work. One reason why the writing had taken so long is that I had progressed from explaining the position of the River and its bridges as part of a transport system unequalled anywhere in the UK and which is a brilliant example five local authorities getting together in consultation with the County Councils and the Transport bodies and central Government to achieve a comprehensive integrated systems of roads, rail and bus in an area where there are two major rivers.

The North East is vast area with a population of under two million concentrated around the banks of three rivers, the Tyne, the Wear and the Tees. Once these were important means of transport for passengers as well as goods. Now while they remain ports and undertake ship and oil rig repair work they are navigated up river only for recreation.
Their are two motor way routes to London as far as Leeds, the M1 and the A1 and then they become one roadway to the east of Leeds. The original route, the A1 continues from London to the West of Leeds where it is bisected by the East West Motorway from Hull to Liverpool, the M62. The main London to Leeds motorway the M1 used to end just before the city, but now its skirt eastward to connect with the A1 to form the A1M which continues into Newcastle with a number of fast roads linking to Sunderland and a main spur onto South Shields. The Newcastle road continues across what is the seventh of the bridges across the Tyne to within the inner city area of Newcastle. This is the route for travelling football supporters from Durham and further afield to the Newcastle Football stadium. It is also the route for those wanting to attend the Metro Arena for large indoor popular music concerts, Ice Hockey and Basket ball games.

In North Yorkshire it is possible to take a road to Teesside which becomes the A19 from York and which then continues to one side of Sunderland, and then to Bolden South Tyneside where there is a link dual carriage way to the end of the Shields spur of the A1M. This A19 road continues to Jarrow and the roadway tunnel under the Tyne and where north of Newcastle it joins in the A1 to continue along the North East coast to Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. Work has commenced on a second tunnel under the river at Jarrow through to North Tyneside such is the congestion during rush hours. This will encourage the flow of cars to and from work on both sides of Tyne and of goods vehicles to and from Scotland. There is also a pedestrian and cycle tunnel from Jarrow to North Tyneside previously used for workers in the shipyards and other industrial concerns on both sides of the Tyne, but is now more of a cycle way. These tunnels and the passenger and cycle ferry is the only way to cross the river without travelling the thirteen miles into Newcastle. There was a plan once to create a bridge but the decision was to build the tunnel.

While there is only one direct railway line between London and Scotland on the East coast there are two mainline railway bridges over the Tyne within the central area of Newcastle. One is dedicated just to the railway while the second is a double decker bridge with the railway on the top deck and a recently reopened lower deck only to pedestrians and cyclists, although until its closure for extensive repairs it was also a road bridge with access to the mail railway station. Because there are two mainline railway bridges this means the line is not affected if one the bridge has to close. It is an hour by train from Newcastle to York or Edinburgh. The are also trains going West to Hexham and Carlisle, and a local service to Sunderland and Middlesbrough and o ward to Whitby and Scarborough on the North Yorkshire Coast. The are mainline line trains from Newcastle to Birmingham and the West Country and to Manchester and Liverpool

Within the past decade a new local train service has been created, using some existing tracks, some older unused lines and some new ones and going underground into the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland. There is now one Metro service from Sunderland which includes the university and the bus and train Interchange station, to Hewarth Gateshead where there is the second Interchange station, to central Gateshead, the third Interchange station and then to the Haymarket in Newcastle where close by is the new central bus station, with a separate coach station close to the railway station which is also on the same Metro line and which then continues into Northumberland where there is Newcastle Airport. Thus it is possible to travel from Sunderland to the airport by one train and from Newcastle central station either by a standard train or the new metro trains or to the airport. The mainline train from Sunderland now only stops at Hewarth and Newcastle before going on to the Metro centre Gateshead, the largest indoor and out door shopping complex in Europe. There are 31 stations on the route from South Hylton, Sunderland to the Airport.

The second Metro route begins at South Shields, a short walk from my house where the old railway station building is now used for a Women's health project and a shopping mobility centre as well as the base for Station Taxis. The new Metro station is over the main shopping roadway where on a parallel road there is the Interchange bus and coach station. There is one coach service from Newcastle to Sunderland and onto London Victoria and one from South Shields to Sunderland and onto London Victoria. There used to be a second Newcastle to London Coach operator where the coach stopped at the Washington Service station for those who wished to join from Sunderland and which I used for the first Live Aid Concert, when assistants were self employed and sold sandwiches and drinks and could make £400 a week if they made the sandwiches themselves rather than buy in to resell for a smaller profit.

The South Shields Metro route connects with the South Tyneside Tyne River towns of Jarrow and Hebburn before connecting up with the Sunderland track into central Gateshead and then Central Station Newcastle where the train then takes a loop first going North along the same track to the airport past Haymarket and Jesmond but then goes East towards the coast to Whitley Bay, then comes back down the coast to Tynemouth and then follows the north bank of the River Tyne to North Shields for the passenger and cycle ferry to South Shields and continues back to Newcastle city centre, finishing at the St James Park Football stadium. The is a total of 42 stations on this line. It also means that there two sets of Metro trains travelling the 12 stations from Pelaw to South Gosforth, that is eight an hour. In order to accommodate this flow of trains some 24 an hour in both directions a new Metro railway bridge was built and which has also become a coloured light artwork for the rest of is decade. Soft floodlighting has been built into the bridge frame work and which is computer controlled and can switch colours according to the notation of music.
There are two more bridges across the city from Gateshead. The first is the low swing bridge which swivels on a central axis to allow vessels to pass on either side. This bridge leads directly on to the Quayside, originally this meant only the Newcastle Quayside where there are restaurants, bars, pubs and night clubs as well as hotels and the new Law Courts. Now it is used for those wishing to go to the Gateshead Quayside where there is the Sage International Concert Halls and the Baltic Contemporary arts centre as well as the shortly to close nightclub ship and a few restaurants and the new Gateshead College complex and new blocks of contemporary flats. Then there is the fantastic Millennium bridge go connect the Law Courts area where there are also bars and hotels to Baltic Contemporary Arts centre and the new contemporary flat developments. The Bridge rather looks like an eye and has separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists which pedestrians tend to ignore and the whole structure swivels and moves upwards into the sky and is worth a visit into Newcastle just to see this happen. It is also floodlit in many colours at night. So that it was there are seven bridges in the city area. The Millennium, the main road bridge, the Tyne Bridge, the Swing bridge, the combined rail and now pedestrian bridge, the High Level bridge, the Metro Bridge, The Railway Bridge and the new Redheugh Road Bridge.

A little way further west there is also another important Bridge, This caries the A1 in a circular designed bypassing both Gateshead and Newcastle city centre and then swinging west across the top of the city to join with the A19 along the North East Coast to Edinburgh. This bridge road also goes west to Hexham and Carlisle and north to the airport. There is a spur to the Metro shopping centre and to the Scotswood bridge which connects the river banks, so technically there are ten bridges between the administrative local authority areas of Newcastle and Gateshead, as a little way up river there is also the Newburn Bridge.

I nearly forget to mention that yesterday I also viewed the ludicrous film the Matador. This stars Pierce Brosnan as a burnt out assassin who turns up in the middle of the night to the only man who he thinks might help him out of his predicament as helping him to kill his employer who has decided that he is expendable and should be exterminated and which is an appropriate conclusion to an a cold blooded mercenary murderer. The first of many ludicrous propositions is that this man will drop everything to fly across America to help him undertake this last killing. Brosnan attempts to act by making fun of his role as James Bond. I compared the couple and their decorated home for Christmas, having survived a tree crushing into the their house six months earlier, with Kevin Spacey and his wife in American Beauty as both films ridicule the values of small town U.S.A. I did not find the film funny or having any serious point despite being been cut from 140 minutes to under 100 and going to the trouble to create scenes from Vienna, Las Vegas, Moscow, Sydney, Budapest, Tuscon and Manila during their 40 day shoot in Mexico City. I was reminded how good the cinema can be as The Lord of Rings, voted the greatest block buster of all time in a Chanel 5 compilation and the ET was also up their at the top along with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was also reminded of the McEnroe comment, You can't be serious. The actors are obviously very good actors because of the serious way in which they spoke were about the class of the director during commentaries included on the DVD.

It was a great day for Durham Cricket Club because they beat the present leaders of the Championship in less than three of the four days off the match at Headingley, gaining 20 points against the 3 of Yorkshire. They now have the same points as Yorkshire with a match in hand and are therefore placed top although there are three other counties also within a few points. There is the prospect of Durham winning all four competitions, the prestigious County Championship for the first time, winning the Friends Provident 50 over one day game for the second year in succession, the 20 20 competition where they had the worst record of all eighteen counties and the 40 over one day event where they won the second division title last year.

1887 A pub for Sunday lunch and football before homeward bound

My original plan for Saturday was followed only until depositing the case at the left luggage at the front of Kings Cross Station. This time I bought only one train ticket having previously duplicated the purchase which meant having to queue at the ticket counter and seek reimbursement which was agreed without any fuss which pleased me considerably. Well done Croydon ticket office. As yesterday there was a train arriving at the platform as I descended the long walk way which led to having to run for it. The train would only make the non stop journey to London Bridge. Someone provided a copy of the daily Mirror and later there was a copy of The Times.

At London Bridge I could not find a lift so had to negotiate stairways for the Northern line journey to Kings Cross. Getting out of Kings Cross using lifts was also a problem and involved three. First I had to go to the Pentonville Road end of the station where the lift went down to a different platform level or up to another level from which there was a walk to the lift leading to the concourse level l which brought one in to the main walkway links between Kings Cross and St Pancras, and then a third lift brought to the side of the station and a walk alongside the platform and across to the front. On all this section of the journey I was accompanied by a young woman I would guess in her twenties who had been on a trip using the £18 return ticket like me from Newcastle. However she was not due to return home until Wednesday cutting short the trip by several days and would need buy a new and expensive single ticket for the premature return. I resisted the temptation to ask why although I had a feeling she wanted to share the reason with someone.

The cost for one piece of stored luggage has increased from £7 to £8 for the day. It is necessary to answer a series of questions accepting responsibility for what is inside the case and then I had to show the computer. It was all reassuring and I did not begrudge the cost. I had planned to take the underground to Green Park and from there to Swiss Cottage to see the film An Education, but asked myself if I was in the mood for the film or preferred to watch Manchester City at Chelsea which was being screened in sports pubs at lunch time. I would visit O’Neill’s at Victoria station and have a plate of sausages and mash with a pint. I decided to take the bus which was a waste of having paid the extra £3 for an all day travel card. I had taken a look at the hordes trying to get to the Northern line and decided the bus was a better option. The double size 73 bendy bus was the last to arrive by which time there was a good queue waiting for the already full bus, I managed to get a seat next to man as large as myself. I wanted to read the copy of the Times I had found on the way to the stop but he wished to pass the time of day which was only a problem as I found it difficult to decipher what he was saying. He left in Oxford Street which was already showing signs of the Saturday crush.

At Victoria station I had a shock, O’Neill’s had disappeared with no indication that any establishment had been there. I was peckish and took a look at Wetherspoon’s in the central concourse but where almost all the 50 more tables were occupied, some having a Saturday morning drink but the majority taking the opportunity of breakfast being available until noon. It wa snot what I wanted

The problem was that I had some knowledge of the pubs and restaurants in the area from a recent walkabout to look at the new development across the way and as expected there was no showing of the game nearby so I went on an explore of the roads around Victoria Street leading to Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square. I was not optimistic but then I had forgotten about Strutton Street, where on weekdays there is a street market and local shops as well as two pubs. The Old Monk Exchange comprises a small doorway with stairs going down to basement level. This offers cask ale, two main meals for £10 and the football match followed by the Rugby International. Usually I do not enter somewhere without being able to see inside, and judge the atmosphere and type of clientele so I was pleased that my endeavour was rewarded by a splendid establishment with lots of wood and brick and although by mid afternoon it had filled up the atmosphere was a good one with local people, only some had come to watch the sport, some for the reasonable fare and real ale, and some for each other‘s company. The match was brilliant from my viewpoint as Man City thumped Chelsea 4.2. I had my sausages at nearly double the cost of the four at Wetherspoons. After the meal and drink I settled nearer the screen became tired and went off to sleep with mine host sent to check that I was Okay. A good cup of coffee enabled the rest of the game to be enjoyed. It would have been a good way to have passed away although a long way from home and family.

There had been a grey sky and a little drizzle of rain throughout the morning but now ascending up to the mid afternoon there was bright sunshine. I walked back slowly to Victoria bus station going for a little explore of where I sometimes walked during lunchtimes during my two years working at Middlesex House in the Vauxhall bridge Road. I enjoyed the bus ride back to St Pancras noting that Oxford Street was crowded with shoppers. At the Circus the detour took us past the Langham hotel. At St Pancras I bought a sandwich deal from Boots which I enjoyed before going to collect the luggage and then waiting with it in temporary lounge until approaching twenty to six when I went for the platform notices which are not put up until 15mins before departure.

I thought I was going to be lucky and have a table for four to myself again, but at the last moment a mother with six year old daughter and grand mother or mother in law arrived having been to matinee from Peterborough. The little girl was attention seeking and kept kicking accidentally intended I think. The mother wanted to talk to her relation rather than attend to child and at their station did not check that she had left the belt for her coat behind and which I only spotted later. Fortunately they left at the first stop. However I then found that the power was not on the compartment on either side. The train left at six and arrived at nine and on the Metro there were several groups of young people young people getting on and off for late evening activities at Gateshead, Hebburn and South Shields. There were spits of rain during the journey but I was able to complete the walk home without getting wet.

Given my uncertainty about going on the trip because of the weather it had worked out well and I was pleased I had made the effort.. In addition to £18 train fare I had bought two Travel Cards, total £15 and two single journey tickets of £3.40 and £3.10 making a total travel expenditure of £39.50. Accommodation for 3 nights was £57 and entertainment of three cinema tickets £11 (two with Cineworld Vouchers) and the Music Exhibition fee.

Food and drink expenditure was Pumpkin Cafe, a coffee at £1.79 before journey and Waitrose first evening Pains au Chocolates 1.49 and two egg custards .69 total 2.18, £3.97 for day.

Second day cold coke 60p on way to cinema and a Cheese burger and Coffee £2.67 during the Interval from McD followed by Marks and Spencer’s Clapham Chicken wings 2.49, Feta cheese and olives 2.69. Two 500 cartons of Grapes £3 and sandwich pack.49 a total of £10.67 £12.94 total.

Coffee at Dome £1.90. The Moon under Water Leicester Square sausage, beans and chips with half of fosters £5.57 Waitrose on return Pains au chocolate 1.49, grapes 2 x 2.49 with discount £3, Prawn Pasta Salad 2.39 and Coca Cola .49 a total of £7.37 with for the day £ 14 .84.

Final day lunch sausage and mash and a pint off Carlsberg £10.18 Boots sandwich deal with crisps and water £3.49 making a day total of £13. 67 and a food total £45.42 and a trip total of £152.92 well within my short trip budget of £250 and less than £40 a day all in. There iless than week before my next trip to the midlands.

1410 Returning to Catterick camp after sixty years

One of my earliest of memories is the journey which I made with one of my aunts who was deaf, dumb, blind and bedridden caused by childhood meningitis. It was a journey made during World War II, from our home in Wallington, Surrey, now within the administrative area of the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London, then near to what had been London's premier airport, Croydon, an area which according to the Eden camp Museum in Yorkshire, more flying bombs landed than elsewhere in the UK.

We travelled by ambulance to the home of a married aunt, who lived in army officer's quarters at Catterick Camp in Yorkshire. My care mother, Aunty Harriet, born with the name Margaret and the eldest of the family of seven sisters and four brothers, Lena, travelled with her separately by train, and later we were joined by my birth mother. I was about four years of age and I have only a few visual memories.

I remember being shown the larder at the house which amazed the aunts who I was growing up with because it was well stocked and they were used to ration books and to shops where little was available and on show, The second memory was of an evening walk in sunshine along country lanes and of walking in a field full of corn that was growing higher than myself. The most important memory is of being taken by "Aunty" Mabel by bus to nearby town for a haircut and then buying a small packet of different coloured plasticine strips from a shop in a building the centre piece of a market place. It was a small town in the days where there were few cars or other motorised vehicles. I can remember it being very quiet with few people being on the street. I remember that bus trips were made to Richmond and I also believe Northallerton, having visited both towns earlier to day, as well as Catterick Village and the major military complex of barracks and training facilities that is known throughout Britain and the world as Catterick Camp but renamed Catterick Garrison. It is sixty five years since my stay in the area. It was my first journey of any kind and the first time I can recall travelling or being with someone other than the family.

I used to have a good chronological memory of what I thought and felt as a child which I carried with me hoping one day I would find the words to express which I believed was a unique experience. Later I learnt that the experiences were far from unique although few have been able to successfully communicate themselves although some professionals concerned with young children and some parents who have tuned in have been able to join up their own glimpses and residues of their experience with those of their own children or the children of others that they have been able to communicate with.

I have not visited before during the past thirty five years when a visit could have been made to Catterick and back in a day from my home in the North East, or stopped off on what is by now countless journeys by road south, mainly to see my birth mother and care mothers on the once a month visits between 1992 and 2003 and then to see my birth mother at her residential home between 2003 and the summer of 2004. I would pass by what I now know is one of the barracks which is located alongside the A1M-A1 roadway with a turning off marked Catterick. I did make a few visits to Richmond but could not identify any part which resembled the shop where the plasticine was bought and had thought of going to Catterick one day to see if I confused places as I remember that the visit for the haircut involved what I considered at the time and subsequently to have been a long bus journey. Until the past five years and commencing the 101 project the motivation was not there and since then I doubted if a visit would add anything to my memory or to the significance of what was my first and only recollection of having done anything alone with the person I was subsequently to learn was my birth mother. Even after that visit she remained distant and hostile towards me. Not in any physically aggressive way and even when she was upset with my behaviour I would be aware that she was upset by something that I had or had not done and where Aunty Harriet would be on my side. It has to be remembered that when the sisters talked they talked in Gibraltar Ian Spanish rather than Gibraltar Ian or English, Gibraltar Ian being primarily Gibraltar Ian Spanish with a mixed of English words and sentences included, but omitted if they wished to converse among themselves without English only speaking individuals present understanding what was being said. Of course when you live with closely with someone speaking another language you can pick up the emotional content of what is being communicated, and then its sense as some words and their meaning become familiar, and then as the year pass you assumed you knew what was being said although I did not communicate to anyone that this was so, until doing so by accident. An uncle and an aunt were visiting England on a prolonged stay for the wedding of one of their children and had been told to say if asked that I was the child of Lena the eldest of the sisters. I cannot remember the circumstances in which I was travelling in a car with the uncle and aunt and I believe at least one other relative but not my birth or care mothers or other aunts and during the journey the uncle and his wife spoke in Gibraltar Ian and at one point posed a question or said something which without thinking I commented or answered accurately thus revealing that I knew more what they had been told I knew. I explained that I could not speak Gibraltar Ian but sometimes seemed to know what was being said although I could not usually express it. I was a teenager at the time and could not communicate well in general, especially with adults who were strangers.

There is one other aspect of my memory of this time which is important to mention before trying to write of my experience yesterday when I visited Catterick village and the area of Catterick Garrison I have no visual image or memory of being at Military base. It may have been quite late in the war as my aunt's husband was not there and there is one source which I will approach to learn if they have recollections or information which will fix the period more accurately than I can. The lack of any memory of a military encampment was reinforced because of the experience of Catterick yesterday.

I had not set off until after lunch. I had wanted to write having gone to bed and sleep well before midnight, sitting in fresh air watching the grass grow at Riverside Chester Le Street had good effect and then risen early around six am, something which I repeated again last night and this morning. Last evening I watched some television briefly catching part of a programme which listed the top ten places where it was still possible to buy properties comparatively inexpensively and have a good quality of life. One of the eh places was Chester Le Street and short film of only a few seconds showed the cricket ground as well as the town centre which I had visited only the previous week.

I had made no preparations for the my mini trip and need to be slow and methodical if I am not to set off and then need to return because I have forgotten something important, including in one instance in my former home, closing the front door! It is usually when I am away that I remember I have forgotten something which I need or would have liked to have with me such the connection cable for internet, or the instructions about using my mobile phone to connect to the internet, although in the instance of this visit I had not intended it to be an occasion hen I would need to have internet communication, but I would need to do so on other planned mini trips over the coming two months. I needed to do some ironing having forgotten to take out and hang up several shirts that I washed and dried the previous evening. I needed to carefully water the plants. I made myself lunch and watched the end of Bargain Hunt before switch over to watch a film, The Bold and the Brave with Mickey Rooney, Wendell Corey and Don Taylor as three World War II Gris conquering Italy. Mikey Rooney plays his natural self a cocky street wise private who chases the local ladies who make a living for themselves and their families from the invaders. It is revealed that Mickey has large family of relative which he is expected to support and this includes a wife. He is a brilliant gambler and it one luck game wins several thousand dollars which will provide for his family if he is in a position to get the money to them.

I think Wendell Corey plays his Buddy but it could have been Don Taylor, a man who is also worldly and who finds it difficult to kill when faced with his first experience of man to man combat. This is significant because the two men are led by the preacher, so named because he dos not drink, go with women and is always talking about right and wrong good and evil. His father was a drunk and he has no knowledge of his mother being raised by an uncle on a farm who appears to have lectured him throughout his childhood on the evils of drink and women. I joined the film as Wendell had paid an attractive young Italian girl from Naples (which she had left because she could no longer stand the shame of knowing that her family knew how she was supporting them), to pick up and entertain the Preacher . When he resists all her obvious moves and goes off to find some cold butter milk and then visit a church she is impressed and when he falls in love with her she begins to remember the young girl she had been with dreams of a white dress, a good husband and children.. Then the inevitable happens in that she is recognised by soldiers of previous acquaintance and he rejects her without listening to her story. He also condemns the gambling winnings and instructs Mikey to get rid of the money and then tackles an assignment with ruthless killer ferocity. He is also hard when another GI is injured, putting orders above human and Christian considerations. Having forgotten the name of the film I bought a newspaper during the trip, in part to check on the film title but also because it featured the first young woman killed in combat in Afghanistan. The brief note on the film rightly draws attention that this is film about characters than big battles and about who gets to survive and who does not. The importance of the money to Mickey gets him killed while Preacher is shown to be something of a hypocrite in terms of his theoretical Christian, fight the devil beliefs, although his behaviour is put into the context of his childhood. It is Wendell who finds it difficult to kill and who shows compassion and understanding, ensuring that the bulk of the cash is sent back home to the widow rather than make use of himself and helping the wounded Preacher back to the main force after the mission is completed.

Then in error than intention I forgot the location of Catterick and instead of heading for A1M I went to Sunderland along the coast and took the A19 to Middlesbrough before realising that if I continued I would join the A1M bypassing Catterick. I therefore head across country which involved single track country lanes and attractive North Yorkshire villages to Northallerton which is traffic congested Market when at first I was not clear from the road signs which was the direction to take to reach Catterick and therefore involved two trips through the centre of town is slowing moving traffic passed the old Town Hall building with shops/offices at ground floor and which could have been the building from where the plasticine was bought although it is some distance away from the Catterick complex.

My route took me to the Northern end of Catterick although I was coming from the South and close to the Racecourse and the village which in turn is close to the AIM and what I quickly realised was one of several separate heavily fortified barrack complexes. I recognised nothing about Catterick Village which is very pleasant indeed with several attractive Inns and a delightful Village green as well as few shops and other businesses in a area separate from the Green. There is no indication as with the Racecourse that one is part of what I suspect in one of the major military complex in Europe. It is according to Wikipedia.

I then headed for the main area of the Garrison complex and the extent of the area covered, the number of separate communities involved including the developing Garrison centre when I stopped at a major supermarket for the toilet was overwhelming and had a major emotional impact, not because of my childhood experience but from the combination of that War film and the newspaper article. I have no intention of going into further detail about the nature of the complex other than to emphasis that it is well fortified and that everyone and everything are under the closest scrutiny. However it was at the supermarket that I was made aware that this is an area full of young men and women and their families who have been or who will be going into combat on our behalf and on behalf of others. There was a sense, a contemporary sense of a nation at war, something which one does not get, even in London where there is lots of new concrete around key public buildings. At one level it brought my awareness of what is what like to be under threat during World War 2 not directly from soldiers in combat but from bombs dropped from sky with memories of the air raid shelter and going off to look at the craters where there once had been homes in our neighbourhood, the flying bomb and the trip to Brighton just after the war in Europe had ended and looked at the fortified Beach. These were the connecting links between past and present rather than my own memory of Catterick and the surrounding owns and villages. One discovering was how short is the route from the Garrison town centre to Richmond and where I turned away to return south rather than take the road which head up to Market Square. I had decided that I would return again once I had digested and adjusted to the impact of this first visit. What I need to emphasise that how ever strong the feelings aroused from watching television programmes about operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the subsequent funerals of those killed or programmes about the care of those injured, the debates about equipment and the strength of the forces deployed nothing has had such an effect as a short drive through Catterick and a brief stop at the supermarket to bring the reality. Somehow my experience needs to be felt by the British people, not relayed in this way or rough TV and Newspapers, but the sense of their reality which I experienced.

Later I learn that the Garrison town centre was first created in 2000 and that under Defence plans published in 2005 1 billion pounds is being spent to upgrade an develop the Garrison which now embrace a large number of villages to a population of 25000 about double that at present and there are twice the barracks or unit HQ's that I estimated.